Terms and rules

SpongeBuddy Mania was created to pay homage to one of the best cartoons ever to grace our television screens. The SpongeBuddy Mania Forums have been around since the site’s inception, with the aim of fostering friendly discussion about the show and other topics of interest to our visitors. As part of your continued enjoyment of this site, we kindly ask that you understand and observe the following rules which govern our community.

Staff Prerogative
Members of the SBM staff have the right to moderate (remove, edit or otherwise alter) any information (textual, auditory, visual) posted to the site. Moderation actions are to be expected when such information falls under prohibited speech outlined hereafter, but the staff may exercise this prerogative individually or collectively at any time and for any reason, not required to be circumscribed by this document.

SBM and its community forums are a private enterprise run entirely by volunteers who give freely of their time, money and goodwill. The staff have historically made every effort to promote freedom of expression and recognize that a healthy community permits the expression of a wide spectrum of ideas and views. Nevertheless, content that is inappropriate and members who are disruptive to the community may be removed at any time.

We remind our community that freedom of expression statutes such as those established in the U.S. Constitution apply only to state actors, not to any private enterprise (such as SBM), and hence such statutes charge no legal or ethical obligation upon SBM and its staff.

The removal, or lack thereof, of any particular piece of content does not constitute a censure or an endorsement of said ideas and views on the part of the SBM staff.

Prohibited Content
SpongeBuddy Mania and its forums exist for the enjoyment of children of all ages: the young as well as the young-at-heart. To that end, please remember that our site is designed to accommodate all ages (most members range from ages 13 to 18). We ask that you do your best to keep all your posts kid-friendly; don’t post anything that might get a child in trouble with his/her parents for having viewed; use common sense and common decency.

The following material is explicitly prohibited anywhere on the site or forums:

Profanity
Our automatic filters catch most common profanity. Attempts to circumvent this feature will be dealt with appropriately.

Pornography
Absolutely no pornography, erotica or sexually suggestive content in any fashion (links, images, etc). Any infraction is grounds for an immediate ban.

Illegal Content
No file sharing of copyrighted material (music, movies, software, etc), nor directing others to places where such material may be obtained. Any infraction is grounds for an immediate ban.

Spam
Nonsense posts, one-word posts, advertisements and unsolicited links are prohibited except where explicitly specified.

Libel & Defamation
Rumors, unsubstantiated or poorly substantiated allegations, and false statements or similar that result in defamation (intended or unintended) of fellow members or real-life individuals is expressly prohibited. Repeat infractions are grounds for an immedate ban.

Trolling
Defined as attempts to start quarrels, upset visitors, or sow discord by posting inflammatory, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the intent (perceived or real) of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses and normalizing tangential discussion, whether for amusement or specific gain. Any infraction is grounds for an immediate ban.

Harassment
Personal attacks against one’s gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religious creed and social status are prohibited. Implicit or explicit allusions to rape and violence, as well all forms of bullying and sexual misconduct are expressly forbidden and will be grounds for an immediate ban along with SBM staff reporting the matter to the appropriate legal authorities.

Do not attempt to harass a harasser. Contact the SBM staff so the matter can be dealt with appropriately.

Impersonation & Multiple Accounts
Attempts to circumvent disciplinary action by creating additional account(s) are expressly prohibited. Impersonating other forum members or real-world individuals and organizations is likewise forbidden. Infractions will result in a permanent ban of any current and future accounts determined to be registered to the same person.

Inappropriate Profile Content
All profile content, including (but not limited to) usernames, custom profile fields, signatures and about pages must adhere to the aforewritten rules. Usernames and profile fields must not contain offensive or tasteless words. Usernames and profile fields should contain intelligible words from the vocabulary of some known language and information relevant to the particular profile field. Gibberish or inadherence to the aforementioned will be grounds for banning of current members, or rejection of new accounts.

Privacy
SpongeBuddy Mania does not require any information about your real identity in order to view the site or register for the forums. Most members on the forums have a fictional username, or handle, which is used to maintain a consistent identity across discussions on the site and its peripheral communications.

One may share as much or as little real-world information as one wishes, either on the personal profile page or via various discussion topics. We recommend erring on the side of caution regarding self-disclosure; most areas of the site and forums are public and are continually indexed by third-party web crawlers. We note that a little bit of well-selected self-disclosure greases the axles of communication and helps establish the bonds of human connection; too much ill-advised self-disclosure may leave you vulnerable to real-life harm.

Personal Message (PM) System
The PM system is designed to allow private communication between two or more members who wish to discuss a matter that does not belong in any of the public discussion forums, or who simply prefer direct communication with another member(s).

All rules regarding prohibited content apply equally to public discussions and to personal/private messages. Although not as easily accessible as public discussions, personal messages are nevertheless stored in plain text and viewable by the SBM administrative staff if necessary. If you desire more private communication, please use a third-party communication channel instead.

The PM system is available to members in good-standing with at least 15 posts.

If you believe the PM system is being abused by any member (see Prohibited Content above), please report the issue to the staff immediately.

Miscellaneous
Topic Titles
Individual topics should have titles which pertain the the subject matter discussed therein. Topics with vague titles will be edited or removed entirely.

Signature Size Limit
Signature images should exceed no more than 600 by 200 pixels in size. A maximum of 2 images are allowed in your signature. Anything beyond this must be enclosed inside a spoiler tag.

Chat (Discord)
All the rules in this document apply equally to the official SBM chatroom on Discord.

Terms & Conditions (The "Fine Print")
The providers ("we", "us", "our") of the service provided by this web site ("Service") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts. Content submitted express the views of their author only. This Service is only available to users who are at least 13 years old. If you are younger than this, please do not register for this Service. If you register for this Service, you represent that you are this age or older. All content you submit, upload, or otherwise make available to the Service ("Content") may be reviewed by staff members. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential. You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws. You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content or your conduct. We may remove or modify any Content submitted at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice. You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service. You retain copyright over the Content. These terms may be changed at any time without notice. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use the Service. Use of the Service constitutes acceptance of these terms. If you wish to close your account, please contact us.


Last Updated: November 28, 2020
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